Dear Counselor Troi
by zakhad
Summary: Counselor Troi is sick of Starfleet, so she takes a job with Federation News Weekly writing an advice column. Since she obtained a waiver from the Department of Temporal Investigations, she accepts mail from all series in all timelines via a micro-wormhole. (Just work with me here, okay?) A work in progress. Suggestions will be added to the list of letters to write.
1. Stalemate

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_I have a dilemma. There is a woman that I consider a very dear friend, and I have thought at times about telling her that I wish we could be more than friends. We have worked together for decades, and I hesitate to speak my mind. I do not want to ruin our friendship. Yet I can't stop thinking about it. She was my best friend's wife, but he has been dead for years. Each time I start to consider being open with her about my feelings, I think about him and hesitate. At one point I did say something but she backed off and we never spoke of it again. Now we spend time together and talk about all kinds of things, yet it's as though it never happened. So I am still hesitating and every so often I think she might be receptive, but I remember how she reacted and stop before I start._

_How do I break this stalemate?_

* * *

Dear Stale,

I can tell that you value your relationship with her very much.

Sometimes we fall in love with a fantasy of something that might happen. You may be thinking at times very happy thoughts about all the possibilities, with this very wonderful woman, and I think it's very possible for you to create together the kind of fantasy you are dreaming about, but only if you can finally speak to her openly and she shares this fantasy.

I expect that you also realize that a real relationship actually takes work. Honesty, open communication, willingness to compromise. And intimate relationships mean that we must open ourselves to the possibility of heartbreak, of course. I suspect that these factors are part of why you have been hesitating to push past the anxiety of trying again. Really starting a relationship would be more work and more intimacy than you are currently called upon to provide in the current version of your relationship.

A comfortable friendship is certainly desirable in and of itself, of course, and risking its destruction to gain the possibility of making that powerful fantasy real is indeed a challenge that you may not yet be ready to meet. For the moment, it seems that fear is winning the race. I suspect that you may find it useful to consider the depth and breadth of your friendship, the likelihood that she already knows how you feel and may be hesitating to say anything out of the same fear, and the fact that you have already tried once before and not destroyed the friendship.

I hope that you are able to find your way to the answer to your question, after considering that it's never too late to try. After all, no one is getting any younger. Time spent in ambivalence only delays resolution.

Wishing you the best,

Counselor Troi


	2. Not Trilled

For Seema.

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_I am in love with the most stubborn man! We went all the way to Risa, and instead of spending time with me he had to go join some political protest that nearly ruined the vacations of everyone on the planet! I honestly don't know what to do - he's loyal, honest, and he'll fight to the death to defend me, but I just can't get him to relax! Everything would be perfect if he would JUST RELAX and have fun once in a while! What I wouldn't give to just spend time relaxing with my boyfriend! But nooooo, he has to find a cause, a mission, anything to avoid sitting on a beach. _

_Do you think he has ADHD or something? I honestly don't know what to do. And he doesn't dance!_

_Not Trilled By This_

* * *

Dear Trilled,

I'm so sorry.

This is Worf we're talking about isn't it?

So, so sorry. I can't even begin to -

Look. You know him, obviously. He's simply... Worf.

Good luck.

Warmly,

Counselor Troi


	3. Overwhelmed on the Moor

Another one for Seema.

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_I've just had the strangest thing happen to me. I inherited a cottage on Caldos from my grandmother, and while I was there a man showed up and told me that he was my late Nana's lover. Within just a few sentences and - I can't even begin to describe the experience when I lit the candle - I found myself head over heels. It's indescribable, how good it feels._

_But I just can't quit thinking that it's all too good to be true. I have a successful career in Starfleet and I'm thinking about giving it all up for a man no one seems to know anything about. Every time I try to talk to him, it happens all over again and I can't resist him!_

_Do you think there's such a thing as love at first sight?_

_Overwhelmed on the Moor_

* * *

Dear Overwhelmed,

Did you say this man is your _grandmother's_ lover?

This experience appears to have completely overwhelmed rational thought. Perhaps you need to examine more closely the content of that candle - you may need intensive addictions treatment. I will be forwarding you a list of referrals shortly.

Warmly,

Counselor Troi


	4. Angry Warrior

It should be obvious by this one that this was All Seema's Fault...

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_I've tried to consult my spirit guide with no luck, so I hope you can help me sort this one out._

_To make a long story short, my Starfleet vessel is stuck far from the Federation, and we've been trying to find a way to get our ship home faster. It's going to take a lifetime the way things are going. While experimenting with transwarp our helmsman experienced some disturbing aftereffects that led to his kidnapping our captain, exceeding warp 10 and having three salamander babies with her. _

_(Sorry, that sounds totally ludicrous but I swear that's what happened. Starfleet is weird.)_

_Anyway. The real problem... I've been trying not to feel as I do for her. Watching her have kids with this young guy was... difficult. I'm afraid that myself and another officer left the kids where they were, instead of bringing them back to our ship with their parents, ostensibly because that was their home and they seemed fine there. But the captain and the helmsman were de-evolved back to humans (another long story) and so we really had no reason to expect that the children wouldn't also, as they are genetically human._

_I think you can see what I'm getting at here... I don't know how to feel about this. Stranding children somewhere without parents isn't normally something I would do._

_I'm seeing the wisdom now of not being emotionally involved within the same chain of command but the kids are still out there somewhere, and I don't really even know where to start with this. The captain has gone right back to duty and doesn't even seem to remember them. Watching her be so unaffected has led to questioning whether or not she would even be a good fit for me, and so I'm starting to move on. The helmsman is the same, just forgetting these three kids ever happened._

_I don't know how to even broach the subject with the captain. Or if there is anything that can be done. Turning around and going back for the babies would delay our return to the Alpha Quadrant, but it feels like the right thing to do._

_Any suggestions on how to go about appealing to the captain to rescue this trio of human children who look like amphibians? _

_Angry Warrior_

* * *

Dear Angry,

I can certainly understand your feelings about the cavalier way these two abandoned the babies. However - as someone who is not unfamiliar with sudden changes of being, random shifts of reality and other mayhem that occurs while traveling about the galaxy, the following questions come to mind.

Are you certain that the children were still children? was there some form of time dilation or time travel involved, that these humans in amphibian form might actually have been adult children?

Did the children attempt to communicate with you at all? Perhaps to ask for help, or deny they needed it?

Did the captain and the helmsman really actually remember them enough to know that they would be fine without them, and happier in the setting in which they were left?

Perhaps you should ask your captain.

Warmly,

Counselor Troi


	5. Tripping on my Heart

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_Maybe you can help me with something. I've heard you're real good with relationship questions. I've been having this... I don't know what to call it. There's this Vulcan woman, she's our first officer. Now, if you told me when we first started out with this rodeo that I would end up having feelings for her, I'd've said you're crazy. But she kinda grew on me over time, and I think she's a little less stiff than she was at the start. I mean, she voluntarily stayed aboard when she was offered other work, back home on Vulcan. _

_There was this thing recently, where some terrorist swiped our DNA and created a baby. The way she reacted to Elizabeth was real startlin'. I watched her with that child and it made me realize that she really would be a great mother. I can't quit thinkin' about it now. We lost the baby, and it was obvious she was grieving about it just like I was. And the more time passes, the more I realize I really do feel we would work well together as a couple. And I can't see how to even go there, now she's back to work and it's like it was before, only I want more now. _

_I can't talk to her openly about a relationship. I try, she just shoots me down. But I keep feelin' what I feel, and I keep talkin' to her. D'you suppose that there's any hope for an illogical, irrational human like me with an uptight, logical Vulcan who seems to have feelings for me but keeps right on denyin' that they're there? It feels like it's gonna take years. We keep goin' back and forth, she gets distant sometimes, and then it swings right around back to normal again, and I keep thinking it's just gotta go somewhere._

_What do you think?_

_Tripping on my heart_

* * *

Dear Tripping,

I do believe that human-nonhuman relationships can work. My own parents were a perfect example. My mother is about as far from Vulcan as you can imagine, but as a Betazoid she was also very different than my human father. But they were very happy together just the same.

I know that your lady friend has deep cultural beliefs and traditions that on the surface appear to be an impediment. But I see in your letter that you have common ground, in that you are working on a vessel together and both share the loyalty to the mission that keeps you there. I think that letting her continue to negotiate within herself toward acceptance of what is clearly there, an emotional tie to you, would be the most respectful way to move forward. And I think that you already know this, as you are still doing it.

Trust your heart. I think it's telling you the right things, and your head is trying to interfere. Perhaps she can help you meditate and calm the anxiety you obviously feel.

Warmly,

Counselor Troi


	6. Oldest Known Ensign

Rocky_T instigated this one.

_Dear Counselor Troi,_

_I'm an ensign on a small starship and I think I might be about to lose it here._

_We ended up on the other side of the galaxy after the captain chose to help some species we just met. Which is okay I guess. Starfleet. You expect that we'll be making sacrifices._

_But man, has it been stressful. Our engineer, she started turning off the safety on the holodeck. At times one or more of us goes a little bonkers. There was this entire two months the captain hid in her quarters. I guess it's to be expected, I mean, we're all the way out here with no reinforcements, no promotion opportunities, no counselor..._

_So I guess that brings me to the question. _

_I don't suppose there's anything like an ECH - Emergency Counseling Hologram? If there is, can you send it with the next communication from the Argus Array? _

_Just don't tell the EMH... he's a bit touchy about competition. _

_Like, I'm really worried about all my friends, and the captain - well. I don't think I'm ever getting a promotion as long as we're here. Maybe this request will only cement that, maybe some of them will be upset that I'm implying they need counseling, but I really am worried._

_Sincerely,_

_Oldest Known Ensign_

* * *

Dear Ensign,

I don't believe that there is a plan to develop an ECH, but I will certainly forward the question to Starfleet Medical. I feel for all of you, out there.

I have a friend here who is working on the communication issue with your vessel and will see if there is a way to begin developing a way to have two-way chats via the array, to facilitate counseling sessions for crises - it sounds as though there is definitely a need.

Stay in touch.

Counselor Troi


End file.
